News
From Book Launch to Prize Winner: Congratulations, John Latham-Sprinkle!
Ten months ago, we proudly launched The North Caucasian Kingdom of Alania, 850–1240 , John Latham-Sprinkle’s groundbreaking study of a little-known medieval kingdom. 📖 Today, we are delighted to celebrate another remarkable achievement: John has been awarded the Royal Historical Socie...
From Lisbon with medieval perspectives!
SHOC members John Latham‑Sprinkle and Imma Petito recently took part in Small Worlds, Big Worlds: Medieval Mediterranean Perspectives , organised by the Society for the Medieval Mediterranean (SMM).
Class and gender at the ballot box: revisiting the 1961 Belgian elections
Why did an experienced female politician lose her place on the electoral list? And what role did class and gender play in that decision?
SHOC members William Torbeyns and Bart Lambert together with Jelle Haemers (KU Leuven): on migrants from the Low Countries in Florence
Medici Florence was a magnet for craftsmanship from the Low Countries Yesterday, Belgian newspaper De Standaard featured the migration research of SHOC members William Torbeyns and Bart Lambert, together with KU Leuven colleague Jelle Haemers.
SHOC @ wOnderland in Ypres Museum
Last Friday, many SHOC members attended the opening of wOnderland in Ieper.
Bart Lambert in podcast "Contagions – une histoire des épidémies": on the plague in Sint-Truiden
Our second podcast featuring Bart Lambert is a treat especially for our French‑speaking followers-but it’s just as fascinating for anyone interested in the historical impact of pandemics!
SHOC colleague Bart Lambert on The English Heritage podcast
Get ready for the Big Bart Lambert Podcast Weekend! Over the next few days, we’re excited to share not one but two brand-new podcast episodes featuring SHOC colleague Bart Lambert. First up: a fresh episode from the English Heritage podcast—the charity that cares for hundreds of his...
SHOC member Imma Petito defends PhD
On Wednesday 10 June, Imma Petito successfully defended her PhD on the relations between the Kingdom of England and Italian polities in the later Middle Ages.
SHOC-member Leonie Vanlerberghe leads workshop on Gender in Personal documents
SHOC member Leonie Vanlerberghe recently led an engaging workshop on “Gender in Personal Documents” at the Spring Conference of the Royal Netherlands Historical Society (KNHG), together with Stefan Kras (history teacher and PhD researcher) and Jessie Baerts (Master student Gender and Diversity Ghen...
VACANCY DOCOTRAL RESEARCHER: FLOWS IN THE CONSTRUCTION SECTOR. URBAN-ENVIRONMENTAL HISTORIES OF LABOUR, MATERIALS, AND MONEY
We are looking for 2 doctoral candidates to conduct research on the Brussels construction sector as a nexus of labour, materials, and capital, from the nineteenth century to the present.
SHOC celebrates third birthday with lecture by Andreas Malm
Last Tuesday, 19 May, SHOC celebrated its third anniversary with an inspiring lecture by Prof. Andreas Malm (Lund University).
SHOC team wins VUB staff quiz!
Quiz champions! Once again, our SHOC members showed they’re experts in more than just history at the annual VUB staff quiz.
TVO students present their posters on Faculty research day
On 26 May, the Faculty Research Day @VUB brought together PhD students from the Faculty of Languages and Humanities for a full day of exchange, inspiration and academic discovery. It was a great opportunity to connect with fellow researchers and explore each other’s work.
New article by SHOC member Brent Huygh
SHOC member Brent Huygh has published his first academic article, titled "Commercialisation from below: the Brussels gateway roads in the eighteenth century", in the History of Retailing and Consumption. Click here to read the publication. Abstract During the early modern per...
Call for Papers: People on the Move in Late Medieval Europe
SHOC member Bart Lambert is guest editing a special issue of the peer‑reviewed, Web of Science–indexed journal Histories on late medieval human mobility.
Vacancy: Doctoral Researcher in the History of Midwifery
1 – Working at Vrije Universiteit Brussel For more than 50 years, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel has stood for freedom, equality and solidarity, and this is very much alive on our campuses among students and staff alike.
Foragency's second podcast series: The Foragers: Engagements beyond the Human
Following the success of the podcast series ‘Introducing Foraging: a podcast in environmental humanities ’, which ran from 25 November 2024 to 16 December 2024, the team behind the Foragency project is delighted to announce a new podcast series, which will run for the next four weeks.
'Wereldsteden van de Lage Landen: Stadsgeschiedenis van Nederland en België' nominated for the Kleio Class Prize 2026!
In March 2025, the book “World Cities of the Low Countries: Urban History of the Netherlands and Belgium” was published, in which various authors, including SHOC historians Anne Winter and Klaas Van Gelder, wrote about fifty cities that were pre-eminently world cities.
Portrait of SHOC colleague Nel de Mûelenaere in the exhibition “Women shaping Science”
Female scientists make a difference every day — in research, policy and society. With “Women Shaping Science”, the Vrije Universiteit Brussel is putting them in the spotlight through a powerful photo exhibition.
Among Fellows and Footnotes: Bart Lambert in Cambridge
From January to April, our colleague Bart Lambert is a Visiting Fellow at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge — one of Cambridge’s institutes for advanced study, dedicated to supporting postgraduate researchers and international scholars.
Events
Practical info23/01/2026 - 09:30 - 23/01/2026 - 12:30SHOC colleague Reinout Vander Hulst on Missionaries in Congo
This Friday, 23 January 2026, SHOC colleague Reinout Vander Hulst will give a presentation entitled "Missionaries and Violence", which is taking place as part of a series of lectures organised by MoSa and KADOC, focusing on the history of Protestant and Catholic missionaries in colonial and postc
Practical info11/02/2026 - 19:00 - 11/02/2026 - 20:45The Foragers #4 - Film Screening: Neptune Frost (2021)
Practical info16/02/2026 - 10:30 - 16/02/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Stephan Strunz
Air, Alleys, and Affection: The Politics of the Housing Survey between Basel, Liège, and Berlin
This paper traces the emergence, circulation, and transformation of a survey method that gained prominence at the end of the nineteenth century through the interplay between the Belgian traditi
Practical info25/02/2026 - 17:00 - 25/02/2026 - 19:30Book launch with SHOC member Jolien Gijbels - Consent: A history of coercion and free will and everything in between
It was only a few weeks ago that SHOC had the honour of presenting the new publication of "Consent:
Practical info09/03/2026 - 10:30 - 09/03/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Thomas Rommel (Vrije Universiteit Brussel - CLIC)
Intertextuality and The Wealth of Nations : Contextualizing Adam Smith
In 1776 Adam Smith, the by-then famous author of The Theory of Moral Sentiments
Practical info13/03/2026 - 09:00 - 14/03/2026 - 21:00First International Conference of the Medieval Caucasus Network: Studying Non-Elites in the Medieval Caucasus
Practical info23/03/2026 - 10:30 - 23/03/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Hannes Ziegler (Technische Universität Dresden)
What was the State? Officiating and Litigating in Early Modern England
Research into early modern state-building has developed quite a bit over the past decades, lending more depth and complexity to such processes.
Practical info31/03/2026 - 18:00 - 31/03/2026 - 20:00Art effects: sensory education in uncertain times
South African professor Premesh Lalu gives a lecture about The Herds, a groundbreaking public art and climate initiative designed to inspire action and renew our bond with the natural world.
Practical info27/04/2026 - 10:30 - 27/04/2026 - 12:00SHOC seminar with Katja Bruisch (Trinity College Dublin)
Burning Swamps: Peat and the Forgotten Margins of Russia’s Fossil Economy
What happens if we tell the history of the planetary emergency from the margins?
Practical info19/05/2026 - 18:00 - 19/05/2026 - 20:00Lecture by Prof. Dr. Andreas Malm (Lund University): "The Political Ecology of Charlemagne – Or, What, If Anything, Is Special about Capitalism?"
